Angeles Millwork and Hartnagels go to great lengths to constantly put our employees into situations where they can learn more about the products and services we offer our customers. Throughout our training sessions in the past year, our employees have each completed over 40 hours of training. Most receive local hands on education, but some we send to various locales around the United States. An example of the great training opportunities we take advantage of is our recent trip to Makita USA in Buford, Georgia.

Two Angeles Millwork employees, Rental Department Manager, Terry Andrews and Contractor Salesman, Mike Deese traveled to Lake Lanier Islands in North Georgia to undergo hands on training with Makita Power Tools. Makita housed Terry and Mike in a beautiful lakeside villa, while providing all the accompaniments of a four-star vacation as they were trained in the history, manufacturing and the extensive operation of a multitude of Makita Power Tools. As Terry likes to put it, they were standing smack in the middle of “Makita Blue Power Tool Heaven”.

Classroom instruction began within a room wallpapered in the latest Makita power tool offerings, free standing displays with cut-aways and full lines of hardware bits, blades, and everything Makita that can be imagined.

Headed by three educated trainers; David, Larry, and John covered the extensive history of Makita from when they started in Japan manufacturing electric motors in 1915, to when they opened a manufacturing plant in the United States in 1985. Makita is currently the only power tool company without any subsidiaries. Their whole focus is rooted in technology, design, innovation and manufacturing of power tools for home owners and professionals.

Terry and Mike received incredible hands on training on a large variety of power tools. The experience in Makita’s giant production plant stuck out as a highlight. The plant was home to tools designed for grinding and concrete work with a focus on the very important element of dust containment systems, which worked flawlessly. As in all power tool manufacturers, woodworking is a major element for all tool enthusiasts. Discussion of wood working power tools and technology for performance, safety, and longevity of Makita tools kept Terry and Mike busy for an entire day. They put the whole line of tools through an extensive test while drilling, sanding, routering and planing an endless supply of wood.

At the end of the training trip, both Terry and Mike received certificates for the training from Makita. The folks at Lanier Islands Lodge and Makita, encompassed the very essence of southern hospitality. The training at the Makita facility was professional, in depth, and eye opening. We’re not centric to only Makita, DeWalt, or even Milwaukee power tools. We believe the tool to rely on should be accessed for efficiency, quality build and safety and the best tool can vary on what we recommend. We will tell you though, Makita makes an incredible product that has us switching out many of our rental and retail power tools over to the “Makita Blue”.

We’d like to thank everyone who made this trip possible and a special thanks to David, Larry and John – the Makita Trainers – for a fantastic training course. We feel a renewed confidence in our knowledge about the power tools we rent and carry.